Nice one, that restrictions thread is going to come in handy.
...
After giving things a bit of thought I'm ditching the idea of splitting the articles into catagories and covering 3 games each article. I'll probably just do a seperate blog post for each game I want to cover, that way if I run out of steam what I do manage to write can stand alone and won't come across as a fragment of a bigger project that never got finished. It'll give me a bit more breathing room to talk about hardware limitations in the context of each game for the early stuff and it does away with any potential awkwardness from having that 8-bit/16-bit distinction in there (in case I decide to cover games on the PC Engine or mid to late 80s arcade games etc. that can muddy the waters).
Also, after a bit of research I realised that there aren't many 8-bit home computer games that still interest me visually - I had Knightlore down as a cert. but looking at it now, it's kind of bland... any suggestions for C64/CPC/Spectrum (or other formats) games that people still think stand up today would be very welcome - I'm not going to include arcade ports I'm thinking more format exclusive games that made exceptional use of the limited hardware or games where one format had a definitive version.
Well, if you're looking at graphics, You have to include CPC ZapTBalls (gorgeous graphics + ridiculously competent use of the video hardware).
I can mainly comment on CPC games:
* Fairlight (but not its sequel)
* Cauldron 2
* Addams Family
* If 'demo-games' count,
Xyphoes fantasy is pretty impressive (I mean in an art sense ; putting aside the technical impressiveness.)
* Switchblade probably has to be on here. (IMO the CPC version was best executed -- which is strange when you consider the original version was on Amiga)
* Head over Heels is brilliantly executed (probably the best iso game, esp WRT graphics)
* Sorcery Plus is worth a mention